Crown Estate royal palace rent discounts for non-working royals, Digi Mart USA News (London, United Kingdom): Four non-working royals, including the daughters of disgraced Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and the late Queen’s cousin, are being charged discounted rents for living in luxurious palace apartments, with the King paying the bills.
A report by the Committee of Public Accounts into the Crown Estate, which owns 255 properties inside royal palace grounds, criticized the organization for “inconsistencies” in rent charged to non-working members of the Royal Family. The report found that outdated residential property valuations contributed to the problem.
Revelations about Mountbatten-Windsor’s living arrangements sparked public backlash over favorable leases offered to royals earlier this year. That prompted MPs on the Public Accounts Committee to launch an inquiry into property deals between royals and the Crown Estate.
Norman Baker, a former Liberal Democrat MP and vocal critic of royal finances, said there could be “no earthly justification” for allowing well-off royals to benefit from substantially reduced rents. He described it as another example of “the arrogant sense of royal entitlement.”
Seven royal properties are occupied by working royals who receive them rent-free in return for helping the King with royal duties. Three are occupied by royals who do not perform royal duties.
Their rent is meant to be set at 60 per cent of market rate, but the report revealed this policy was not enforced over many years, raising questions about how much they have been charged.
The Crown Estate is a commercial body that manages the Royal Family’s property portfolio on behalf of the monarch. Its profits go to the Treasury to fund public services, and it is required by law to “achieve the best price” it can from renting out the 2,475 properties it manages, including those occupied by the royal family.
The four non-working royals who benefit from reduced rent are Princess Eugenie, Princess Beatrice, and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. The King pays their rents from the Privy Purse, his private income generated from the Duchy of Lancaster.
The report stated that “prior to 2026, outdated residential property valuations led to inconsistencies in the rent charged” and that valuations were updated during a National Audit Office review.
Previous reports estimated Princess Eugenie’s rent for Ivy Cottage on Kensington Palace grounds would fetch £10,000-£15,000 per month on the open market, with the Privy Purse reportedly covering around 64 per cent of market rate, or £6,000-£9,000 a month. Reports estimated Princess Beatrice’s four-bedroom apartment in St James’s Palace would fetch around £15,000-£20,000 a month, meaning the King could be paying up to £13,600 a month for her to live there.
Buckingham Palace confirmed that the late Queen had paid the rent for Prince and Princess Michael of Kent’s five-bedroom apartment in Kensington Palace at £120,000 a year after a 2002 scandal over their rent of £69 a week.
The committee recommended that the Royal Household implement its policy for setting rent for all residential properties, including regular reviews to keep rental income aligned with market rates. The Crown Estate also holds five leases of royal properties, and the report found Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor sublet cottages on Royal Lodge at below-market rates, generating about £2,000 a month in income for him while he held the lease.
The report recommended that leases include a standard provision prohibiting subletting without the landlord’s prior permission, and noted it would be “normal practice” for the Crown Estate to receive a share of subletting profits. A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said the palace was grateful to the committee and would carefully consider its recommendations as part of its commitment to continuous improvement.
